CHAMPIONING THE STUDENT INTEREST

BRITISH ACADEMY, LONDON, 21 MAY 2014

Rob BehrensChief Executive and Independent Adjudicator

HEPI –HEA SPRING CONFERENCE

Robert.behrens@oiahe.org.ukTwitter @OIAChiefExec

“People were most suspicious when I called ...I had to feel my way , exchanging trust for trust’. District nurse, practising in rural Norfolk, quoted in Ronald Blythe, Akenfield, 1968.

“Comrades! The first principle of the Revolution is effective time-keeping.” - Govan Mbeki, after being released from Robben Island after 25 years.

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WHO DEFINES THE STUDENT INTEREST ? NORMATIVE

How an expert or professional identifies a need in the context of professional, expert or legal standards.

EXPRESSED

What students demand through representation and often in surveys and want-

FELT

What a person or group believe they need, but may not be prepared to express publicly but will articulate under trusted conditions

COMPARATIVE

Comparing the differences in access to services either across sector or national boundaries

Drawn (broadly) from Mark Liddiard, ‘Social Need and Patterns of Inequality’ in John Baldock, Sarah Vickerstaff, and Nick Manning (Eds), Social Policy, Oxford 2007.

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NEED FOR REVISED REGULATORY ARRANGEMENTS.

Replaces ‘sticking plaster’ of RPG. Joined up Creates a level playing field or ‘ploughed furrow’ Embraces but not confined to self-regulation. Includes a classic, independent ombudsman service Includes direct student representation and voice. Proportionate AND

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Sensitive to THE SPECIAL FEATURES OF HIGHER EDUCATION

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CAMPUS ARRANGEMENTS TRUSTED BY STUDENTS AND PUBLIC. What engenders Public Trust ?Key elements include: Perceived honesty and independence of profession Development of internal culture fostering

standards and openness to improve professional integrity and increase confidence in public institutions

Exhibits a core competence in serving users Manifestation of ‘trustworthy’ behaviour

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A BURNING PLATFORM OF TRUST ?

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THE CRISIS OF TRUST Ministers and conflicts of

interest (1998-2004) Systematic, widespread, mis-use

of expenses by MPs (2009-10) Mis-selling of goods and

services by banks (2001-8) Illegal telephone hacking by

newspapers (2005-11).. Failure to investigate avoidable

deaths in hospitals (2008-12)

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WHAT WE LEARN (1)

• Public Trust is variable depending on perceptions of independence and honesty. Trust in higher education is currently high.

• Trust ratings are susceptible to collateral damage.

IPSOS MORI (1983-2013) 2011Do you ‘generally trust them to tell the truth or not?’ (%)Doctors 88Teachers 74Professors 74Judges 72…Police 63Ordinary person in street 55…Civil servants 47Journalists 19Government ministers 17Politicians generally 14

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WHAT WE LEARN (2)

• Scandals occur where independent oversight is either non-existent, imperfect or constrained. The Independent Ombudsman adds value (ask Lord Leveson).

• At the start of many ‘scandals’ is a detriment to a person.

• Codes of Practice which carry authority are key to sector integrity.

• Transparency is an aid to perceptions of independence and to good practice.

• The inter-personal becomes the strategic. Trustworthy behaviour is required on all sides and needs dialogue with newly empowered. (students empowered by social media).

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SEVEN STEPSTOWARDS CHAMPIONING STUDENT INTERESTS

1. Core competence (‘doing what you say you will do’) continues to be exhibited by universities.

2. Independent OIA continues to ‘speak truth unto power’ while respecting HE ‘exceptionalism’

3. Students unions embraced as partners, representing students and managing expectations and student ‘wellbeing’ are ‘the golden thread’

4. Centrality of Good Practice Codes

5. Learning from inside and outside higher education

6. Transparency engenders Trust rather than undermine it.

7. Trustworthy behaviour concretised.

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GOOD PRACTICE CODES

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TRANSPARENCY RULES

“Transparency certainly destroys secrecy: but it may not limit the deception and deliberate misinformation that undermine relations of trust. If we want to restore trust we need to reduce deception and lies rather than secrecy.”

Onora O’Neill, A Question of Trust: The BBC Reith Lectures , 2002.

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TRUSTWORTHY BEHAVIOUR “People were most

suspicious when I called ...I had to feel my way , exchanging trust for trust’. District nurse, practising in rural Norfolk, quoted in Ronald Blythe, Akenfield, 1968.

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